Patriots defense zones in on Andrew Luck passes

The Patriots were especially active in getting their hands on Andrew Luck's passes. They intercepted three and tipped eight.

By Rich Garven TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

The Patriots were especially active in getting their hands on Andrew Luck's passes. They intercepted three and tipped eight.

“I thought our guys on defense did a good job,” coach Bill Belichick said. “We got our hands on a lot of balls. We dropped a few, we caught some.”

That was a point of emphasis entering the game.

“Coach just told us to be aggressive, more aggressive than we had been,” said rookie cornerback Alfonzo Dennard, who had an interception and made a wildly athletic play to bat another ball down. “That was the main thing that we had to work on was being aggressive on their receivers.”

With their fourth consecutive victory in the books, the Patriots (7-3) won't have much time to enjoy it as they find themselves back at work today in preparation for a Thanksgiving night showdown with the dreaded Jets in New York. The Jets are 4-6 following their surprising, 27-13 road win over the St. Louis Rams yesterday, a decision that ended a two-game losing streak that included a 29-26 overtime loss to the Patriots on Oct. 21.

• The Patriots have scored a league-leading 358 points through 10 games (35.8 average). They're on pace to finish with 573, which would rank second in league history behind the 589 they scored in 2007.

• Gronkowski has 10 touchdown receptions, making him the first tight end in league history to reach double figures in three consecutive seasons. He had 10 as a rookie in 2010 and 18 last season. He's on pace to finish with 16.

{Zcirf} The Patriots scored on offense, defense and special teams in the same game for the second time in franchise history. They initially did it in a 41-14 win over the Dolphins in 2010.

{Zcirf} Safety Tavon Wilson took over sole possession of the team lead with his fourth interception (That's one more than Devin McCourty). Mike Haynes holds the team record for interceptions by a rookie, with eight in 1976.

{Zcirf} Brady extended his streak of passes without an interception to 161. He recorded the 51st 300-yard passing game of his career, tying him with Dan Fouts for sixth all-time. It was his 34th game with three-plus touchdowns and no interceptions, leaving him three behind Peyton Manning and two behind Brett Favre.

{Zcirf} Stephen Gostkowski has scored 104 points and is on pace to finish with 166, which would tie the league record established by San Francisco's David Akers last season. Gino Cappelletti holds the franchise record of 155, set in 1964.